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Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.
W. Somerset Maugham
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W. Somerset Maugham
Age: 90 †
Born: 1874
Born: January 1
Died: 1965
Died: January 1
Army Scout
Literary Critic
Novelist
Physician Writer
Playwright
Prosaist
Screenwriter
Writer
Paris
France
W. Somerset Maugham
Somerset Maugham
Inspirational
Moderation
Life
Occasion
Excess
Occasions
Effect
Deadening
Habit
Acquiring
Effects
Exhilarating
Belief
Prevents
More quotes by W. Somerset Maugham
Women are strange little beasts,' he said to Dr. Coutras. 'You can treat them like dogs, you can beat them till your arm aches, and still they love you.' He shrugged his shoulders. 'Of course, it is one of the most absurd illusions of Christianity that they have souls.
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The great tragedy of life is not that men perish, but that they cease to love.
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I do not confer praise or blame: I accept. I am the measure of all things. I am the center of the world.
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It is dangerous to let the public behind the scenes. They are easily disillusioned and then they are angry with you, for it was the illusion they loved.
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A man ought to work. That's what he's here for. That's how he contributes to the welfare of the community.
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The secret to life is meaningless unless you discover it yourself.
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The humour of Dostoievsky is the humour of a barloafer who ties a kettle to a dog's tail.
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He did not care upon what terms he satisfied his passion. He had even a mad, melodramatic idea to drug her.
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The most useful thing about a principle is that it can always be sacrificed to expediency.
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The Riviera isn't only a sunny place for shady people.
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D'you call life a bad job? Never! We've had our ups and downs, we've had our struggles, we've always been poor, but it's been worth it, ay, worth it a hundred times I say when I look round at my children.
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There are men whose sense of humour is so ill developed that they still bear a grudge against Copernicus because he dethroned them from the central position in the universe. They feel it a personal affront that they can no longer consider themselves the pivot upon which turns the whole of created things.
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It has amazed me that the most incongruous traits should exist in the same person and, for all that, yield a plausible harmony.
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She’s wonderful. Tell her I’ve never seen such beautiful hands. I wonder what she sees in you.” Waddington, smiling, translated the question. “She says I’m good.” “As if a woman ever loved a man for his virtue,” Kitty mocked.
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Unfortunately sometimes one can't do what one thinks is right without making someone else unhappy.
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Has it occurred to you that transmigration is at once an explanation and a justification of the evil of the world? If the evils we suffer are the result of sins committed in our past lives, we can bear them with resignation and hope that if in this one we strive toward virtue out future lives will be less afflicted.
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An unfortunate thing about this world is that the good habits are much easier to give up than the bad ones.
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Most people are such fools that it is really no great compliment to say that someone is above the average.
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As we grow older we become more conscious of the complexity, incoherence, and unreasonableness of human beings this indeed is the only excuse that offers for the middle-aged or elderly writer whose thoughts should more properly be turned to graver matters, occupying himself with the trivial concerns of imaginary people.
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It might be that to surrender to happiness was to accept defeat, but it was a defeat better than many victories.
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